These amazing photos rocked my world, and there are so many of them! These are not paintings, they are photographs. From Vintage News:
The project named Super Flemish by Goldberger has created a series of photographs that portray ultimate pop culture characters of the caliber of Spiderman, Yoda or even villains such as Darth Vader, in a Flemish treatment. The photos largely resemble 16-th century paintings, and it has taken Sacha two years to complete the ambitious project. A team of twelve people has put efforts in making the flawless makeup, hair and special effects that can be noticed on the photographs.
“A lot of the job was done before and during the shoot. Pierrick and Sebastian, my digital retouchers, helped me to get the precision and the perfection I was looking for in this series,” says Sacha. “All of it was incredible; it was like a dream come true.”
“When you see the Hulk in front of you and you, ask him to look romantic, it’s crazy. The Joker was also very impressive. He endured three hours of make-up and started to act like Heath Ledger in the movie, The Dark Knight,” adds the French photographer.
And from Sacha Goldberger’s site:
What if Superman was born in the sixteenth century?
And what if the Hulk was a Duke?
How might Van Eyck have portrayed Snow White?Sacha’s discovery of these characters, which goes back to childhood, gave birth to a desire
to re-appropriate them, to take them back to a time forming the cornerstone of modern western art. Sacha wants to confront these icons of American culture with contemporary painters of the Flemish school. The collection demonstrates the use of 17 century techniques counterpointing light and shadow to illustrate nobility and fragility of the super powerful of all times. It also invites you to celebrate the heroes of your childhood. These characters have become icons to reveal their humanity: tired of having to save the world without respite, promised to a destiny of endless immortality, forever trapped in their character.
The superheroes often live their lives cloaked in anonymity. These portraits give them a chance to « fix » their narcissism denied. By the temporal disturbance they produce, these images allow us to discover, under the patina of time, an unexpected melancholy of those who are to be invincible.As science fiction meets history of art, time meets an inexhaustible desire for mythology which is within each of us.
Oh, go have a wander and look at all of them! Super Flemish and Sacha Goldberger’s main page, and Flemish in the Stars (Renaissance Star Wars). Look at everything! And thanks to PZ for yet another timesink, I really needed another one. (Just a pinch of sarcasm there…)
Great idea and beautiful photos. But I do not like the depiction of Iron man. He should be wearing full plate armour, fluted in renaissance style, coloured in red and gold.
But that is just me, how I would have done it if I were able to do it (which I am not).
Those are super amazingballs!!
A couple years ago I did a self portrait in renaissance stuff, using nearly the same lighting techniques, etc. I had been studying the lighting in renaissance paintings and thought it’d be fun to play. These are superb! Makes me want to grab some models and get in the studio…
Charly:
That would be superb!
Marcus:
They are wonderfully inspiring -- play time!
And Christian Bale would look phenomenal in that outfit.
This makes me want to go back and read Neil Gaiman’s 1602 — fabulous work, that.
Brucegee:
Oh, the artwork in that is superb! That’s the first comic I got on my tablet, rather than paper form. I might have to revisit it too.
Damned ‘imaginary stories’, What If’s and Elseworlds -- some of us are old enough to remember whn continutity meant something!
Get thee off my lawn!
Superheroes and most of the Star Wars characters are visually quite at home in the Renaissance outfits.
Ice Swimmer, yes. I thought they particularly lent themselves well to the pathos of Joker, the self-righteousness of Batman, and I love Catwoman’s dress.
busterggi:
This month will mark the beginning of my sixth decade, and I find it astonishing and overwhelmingly sad that anyone could have this reaction to incredibly beautiful photography and art work. These don’t have jack shit to do with continuity, they certainly don’t disrupt it in anyway. This is simply an exercise of imagination, and I find the dismissal of it to be most sad too. They are enjoyable all by themselves. The photographer also had fun with Mamika (his elderly mother) dressed up as Superheroes. Fun all the way around. What is the point of reaching a fine and mellow age if you blatantly refuse such joy?